~Liam*~
I wasn't sure how I did it but eventually, I drifted off into sleep myself. However, when I woke up, I was alone.
I snuggled into the plush, warm blankets and reached across the bed after no longer feeling West's arms around me. I furrowed my brows. Nothing. I sucked in a breath and my eyes fluttered open. I instantly grimaced at the light that peaked through the dark drapes over the window. While they looked like they were supposed to black out the light, they did what seemed like the exact opposite. I turned over in the bed, laying on my back and stretching. I glanced around. Where was West?
I slowly stood up, pushing my hair back in an attempt to at least look somewhat decent. I peered around West's room as I made my way to the door.
The walls were a dark navy blue, clashing with the light blue comforter that made his bed. The nightstand and dresser were painted white, little trinkets decorating the space on top. I poked around at things, picking things up. I tripped over the clothes that littered the floor and found myself snickering. His room looks just like the stereo typical teenage boy room.
There was a TV mounted on the wall and a game station plugged into it. I rolled my eyes and opened up the door, sticking my head out and looked around. Almost as soon as I opened it, the sounds of kids shouted and laughing echoed through the hall. I curled my lip and hesitated but walked out, gently closing the door behind me.
I walked towards the stairs, sticking close to the walls, but froze and nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard West's mom walking out the door.
I heard her yelling very loudly in Italian, her high heels clicking quickly on the ground. I started to think that maybe she knew I was here and was shouting at West but then I heard her kiss him goodbye and start to gather her purse, keys jingling as she did so. As she walked out of the door, she called, "Ti amo!"
"Ti voglio bene, mamma. Buona giornata," I heard West shout lazily and my heart leapt. As the door shut loudly, I started making my way down the stairs. I rounded the corner, seeing West leaning against the counter, paying no attention to anything at all as he played a game on his phone. I reached up and gently knocked on the door, causing his head to snap up. His eyes seemed to light up, causing me to flush. He didn't give me time to even make any kind of smart remark or tell him good morning as he jogged around the table with an excitement that I wasn't used to and pulled me into a bear hug.
I blinked in surprise, honestly more than just a little shocked at the contact first thing in the morning. I felt my face start to tint pink and he must have noticed how tense because he pulled away slightly, just enough to flash me a smile.
"Hey, what're you doing up? I was gonna let you sleep for a bit. Sorry I wasn't there when you woke up," he breathed, his eyes searching my face. He finally pulled away from me, much to my disappointment. He padded back to his spot around the counter and I instantly followed, unable to help myself. "I heard my mom waking up and I knew she would barge into my room to get me if I wasn't awake with the kids."
I swallowed, pushing my bed head back and shrugged. "It's alright, love. That's about what I thought had happened."
He snickered and I leaned on my hand, staring at him. His inky hair was spiked up at odd angles and he wore a dark black V neck along with a plaid pair of pajama pants. As I looked at him, staring at him and trying to take in every aspect of him in the morning, I couldn't help but think... Wow. How did I not immediately jump him upon our first meeting?
And because of that, it took me far too long to realize that his mouth was moving. I blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
He chuckled. "I was saying that... If you wanted to, I'm just staying here today... Maybe you could stay with me? We could hang out, watch some movies... Whatever you want."
I opened my mouth, instantly ready to accept the offer, when I was quickly cut off by the screaming children running amuck in the other room. I curled my lip. "Oh, great. They're here."
"Yes, Liam," West snickered, rolling his eyes. He made his way to me, my heart beat quickening with every step. He rested his hands on my hip and gave them a squeeze, swooping down and pressing his lips to my neck. "They live here. Is that a problem?"
I reached up, grabbing hold of his arms, and craned my neck to give him better access. "At this particular moment? No."
I felt him smile into my neck. He left a trail of kisses from my neck, to my jaw, making his way to my lips. My heart felt like it would leap out of my chest from anticipation and I gripped his arms harder, pulling him to me. Finally, he was almost at my lips, teasing me ever so gently and-
"What're you doing?" A little voice asked, causing me to scream and dig my nails into West's arms. He grimaced and pulled away from me quickly, then sent me a scowl as he rubbed his arms. Gritting my teeth, my head snapped over to see five tiny little humans staring at us with furrowed brows.
"Were you guys kissing?"
"Why were you kissing?"
"Can we make waffles for breakfast?"
I ground my teeth together, sucking in a breath as I fought the urge not to punt each of those children into oblivion. I don't think that would get me many brownie points with West. West pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing and looking nearly as irritated as me that they had interrupted us. Nearly.
"Yes, we were. Because I wanted to. No, we cannot," He answered simply, causing all of the kids to groan. He reached out, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, my back smacking into his chest, which caused my finally cooled down cheeks to heat up once again.
"Why not?" One of the boys, Tonio, if I remember correctly, whined.
"Because ya'll can't be trusted around the batter and I'm not dealing with it today," West answered with a shrug. He placed a gentle kiss to my neck then rested his chin on my shoulder. I couldn't help but stare over at him dreamily, wanting nothing more than to just grab his face and kiss him right there. But a tug at the hem of my shirt stopped me. West and I both glanced down, seeing big, dark eyes staring back.
"Why are you wearing my brother's shirt?"
I curled my lip, backing up as closely to West as I could. "Oh, lovely. It's you. The child of many questions."
"I ask so many because you don't really answer any," Aida retaliated with a shrug, furrowing her brows. I felt my brow twitch in annoyance.
"That's because, like I said, you ask too many," I glared bitterly, shooing the small child with my hand. West snickered behind me and Aida crossed her little arms, her siblings following suit.
"Why are you here again? Don't you have your own house?"
West cackled and giving my waist a playful squeeze. I scowled at him over my shoulder and honestly felt very... odd about how comfortable I felt. Flushing, I balled my hands into fists.
"Yes, I have a house, you little shit," I hissed, narrowing my eyes. I gestured to my body. "Do I look like I would live on the street?"
"You're wearing my brother's shirt, so, I don't know, maybe."
My face erupted in flames and I opened my mouth to really let the little punk have it but West quickly tightened his arms around my waist.
"That's enough, you two," He sighed, shaking his head. "Aida, remember what we talked about? Not saying every single thing that comes to our head?"
Aida pursed her little lips, rocking back on her toes, nodding bashfully. West peered over at me, quirking a brow. "Do I need to have the same talk with you?"
I pulled away from him, baffled. "West, she started it, she-,"
"And I'm ending it," He smirked, pressing his lips to my cheek. He grabbed my arm, spinning me around to face him, now ignoring the children around us. He gently looped his fingers through mine and my heart fluttered in my chest. "So, do you want to sit here and argue with a child all day, or do you want to take me up on my offer?"
"Offer?"
"Spend the day with me," he began, giving my hand a squeeze. "Whatever you want to do. We can stay here, I can call Kai to come watch the kids, whatever you want. Just tell me. Let me have a redo after the other day."
I blinked, honestly slightly surprised. Little does he know, I would do just about anything and everything he asked me to. I swallowed and traced circles onto his palm with my thumb. "W-Whatever is easiest. Whatever you want to do."
"Liam, you have never cared about what I want to do," He laughed, his eyes glittering.
"Yeah, well... Things are different now," I said stubbornly, ignoring the now bored children running around, trying to smack each other with foam fists. West peered over at me, a small smile rising on his lips.
"Different?"
"Yes, different."
"How so?"
"Well," I began, trailing off slightly, feeling my face growing hotter by the second. I looked down at our intertwined fingers in an attempt to hide my pink cheeks. I shrugged, trying my best to sound nonchalant. "Now I sort of, kind of, care about the stupid things that you want to do. A little bit."
I'm not usually so... lovey-dovey and mushy with people. I'm not used to being so playfully flirty and openly so attracted to someone. I'm the one that the people chase after, I'm the one that they confess to, and now, here I am, standing in the kitchen with the guy that I like, talking about going on a date and blushing like a school girl. It doesn't feel... bad.
"Holy shit, what is this? What am I witnessing right now?" West laughed, bending over slightly, attempting to look at my face. He squeezed my hands in an attempt to hold me in place as he struggled to look me in the eyes. I could hear the smile in his voice as he began to tease me. "Liam, are you blushing? Why are your ears so red? Liam, why aren't you looking at me?"
"Oh, fuck off," I groaned, rolling my eyes as I struggled to hide my smile. Since he held my arms in place, I simply leaned my whole body forward, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. He gasped playfully.
"Are you, by chance, getting all shy because you're embarrassed that you care about little old me?"
"West, I swear, do not make me kick your ass on the day of our first date," I protested, unable to stop it anymore as the smile spread across my cheeks. That sweet laugh of his rumbled through his chest and even though I'm not too proud to admit it, it just made me melt. Allowing West to reach up and cup my face, he tipped my chin up to look at him and I was met by those almost magical eyes of his glittering at me and a smile that made my heart stop. All of my resistance seemed to just disappear as he gently ghosted his hand over my cheek.
"Is this weird to you?" He whispered, his eyes searching my face. I swallowed roughly, fisting my free hand into the front of his shirt. Slowly, I nodded.
"Absolutely, darling."
His smile grew wider at that and he swooped down, pressing his lips to mine. The kiss was quick and gentle, but enough to make my legs feel like jelly. When he pulled away, he nuzzled his nose against mine. I sighed deeply, giving his shoulders a squeeze.
"So?" He breathed, eyes searching my face. He pecked my lips once more, giving my cheeks a light squeeze. "Talk to me. What do you want to do?"
I chewed at my lip, running my hands over his shoulders. "Well, I-I do sort of have an idea. But it's going to require me leaving for an hour or two. And Kai would have to watch the kids tonight."
West pulled back, eyebrows raised. His eyes gleamed with anticipation and he grinned playfully, lowering his hands to settle on my waist. "What kind of idea?"
"Secret."
"Can I get a hint then?"
"Nope," I answered, popping the "P". He groaned, casting his head back and I snickered. When he finally looked back to me, he was pouting, sporting the cutest puppy dog face I had ever seen in my life.
"You're not going to tell me and you're going to leave for an hour? Or two?!" He whined, leaning forward to bury his face in my neck. I chuckled, throwing my arms over his shoulders and pulling him closer to me.
"I'm not telling you because it's going to be a surprise, love," I purred, dragging my hands up his back. I pulled back slightly, looking down and locking eyes with him. I swallowed, that nervous, excited feeling still weighing on my chest. "O-Of course I don't mean that I have to go right now though. I can wait a couple of hours. It is still pretty early."
With a brilliant smile, West dipped down, placing scattered kisses onto my neck and I squeezed him, wanting nothing more than to stay like this all day. However, in order to get everything in my head perfect for our first official date, I have to go. But... not right now. Nope, not right now.